Be Strong
by Ms. Unlucky
Summary: Evolved from a single prompt fill ("What if Ichigo was a Zanpakuto?") into, apparently, a series. The events of the Soul Society story arc take place much the same except 1) Ichigo is a Zanpakuto personified, 2) Urahara hid the Hogyoku inside of him instead of Rukia, and 3) everyone has to save our favorite Berry-chan from the chopping board, instead of our Chappy-loving-Kuchiki.
1. Sacrifice

**Important:** This is part of an on going series, known as the "Zanpokuto-Ichigo!Verse" on AO3. I've marked it down as 'completed' here, but it isn't-not really. Each chapter will be a stand alone fic unless expressed as otherwise in the Author's Note. Updates will be slow as my muse for this fandom is a shriveled up husk of what it once was (what the fuck are you even doing Kubo? e.e )

Each chapter will have its own summary, as the description for this fic was more of an outline of what is to come. Please and thank. :3

**Summary:** The first time Masaki was sent on a solo mission to the human world to kill a Hollow, she rescued a doctor.

Or, a story born from a "what if". What if Ichigo had been Masaki's zanpakuto? Hint: Urahara is a scheming dick, Soul Society remains its dick-ish self, and Ichigo still becomes a "Kurosaki".

* * *

The first time Masaki was sent on a solo mission to the human world to kill a Hollow, she rescued a doctor.

At the time, it had all seemed so inconsequential—routine. The man was pinned by the Hollow's giant hand, crying out in pain as the thing crushed him into the concrete. It had barely even noticed her presence before she had cut it through and through at the mask.

Masaki gave the human a passing glance to be sure he would not die from his injuries. He appeared to have sustained minor wounds, a few scrapes and bruises. She had arrived in the nick of time.

As Masaki turned to leave, sheathing her sword as she went, he called out.

"W-wait! I— thank you for saving my life."

Those few stuttered words changed Masaki's life forever—for better or for worse was hard to say.

* * *

One year after Masaki had saved Isshin from a Hollow, she made a decision that would set her life on a course fated for destruction. She decided her love for Isshin was greater than her loyalties to the Gotei 13.

Masaki was never an _unhappy_ child_. _She had grown up well fed and well loved, and when she started at the Shinigami Academy, she had discovered a passion for saving lives. Masaki enjoyed her life in Soul Society, and prospered under the care of her teachers and peers.

Masaki graduated the Shinigami Academy at the same speed as any other student, but climbed the Seats in her assigned Squad faster than anyone had anticipated. She was not a prodigy, no, but Masaki was far from _average._

It had been noted by her Captain—Byakuya—that she seemed to share an unusual _bond _with her zanpakuto. Masaki trained hard like all the other Shinigami, he reported, but seemed to gain far more skill and knowledge faster than any other who had served under him. The stoic Captain had tried brushing it off as her growing stronger more quickly than most, but that didn't quite fit. She mastered Shikai, and was on the steady road to Bankai as far as he could tell, but she did not appear to be growing outward other than with her blade.

It was strange, yes, but not strange enough to garner any real attention.

A year after Masaki had saved the life of Isshin—as the 14th Seat of the 6th Division of the Gotei 13—she broke her ties with Soul Society, and ran to her precious Doctor. Only one obstacle slowed her down through her journey into anonymity: a high Seated officer of the 5th Squad. It was reported that she broke the surface of her zanpakuto's second release during the confrontation—and that the raw power and destruction it unleashed had ended the fight within minutes, and Masaki had escaped into the World of the Living.

It would be months before Masaki could reach out to her zanpakuto like that again—to simple old or speak to him—and never would she suspect the future laid before her beloved Ichigo—or that they'd ever be parted.

* * *

Masaki's escape into a life with her _lover_ had come at a steep price: her zanpakuto.

When her mind had been made up, when she decided that Isshen meant more than the Gotei 13, she hadn't known who to turn to—how to make escape possible.

Opportunity found her.

It came in the form of a traitor Captain, of a mellowed out old man who ran a candy shop.

The offer was shady—too good to be true, the payment hardly doing a thing for the ex-Captain. And yet… she took it, in the sudden surge of desperation to be with Isshin Kurosaki.

It was simple—Masaki would be put into a Gigai that would slowly drain her of her Shingami status, and she would owe Urahara a favor.

"Nothing to strenuous," he'd promised. "I know Isshin too, you see. This _is_ a small town. He's a friend in love and I am simply helping the young Romeo."

Masaki took the offer, the ex-Captain aided in her escape from Soul Society, and put her on the path of mortality.

The night she arrived in Karakura to _stay_, hours after releasing her Bankai for the first—and last—time, Urahara Kisuke named his price.

"Ichigo," the ex-Captain had said, as though he was stating the weather. "It's not like he will be with you much longer. The Gigai has already begun to drain you—your zanpakuto will vanish with it."

Maski cried, but did as told. Ichigo had cried as well, in her raining inner world. His parting words were small, whispered—but genuine.

"_Be happy."_

Masaki didn't think she'd ever see Ichigo again.

* * *

Six months after Masaki left the Soul Society to never return, and a month after she became Masaki _Kurosaki_, Urahara appeared in the dead of night with a baby bundled in his arms.

She may not have been a Shinigami anymore, but Masaki's Spirit Energy had not dwindled to the point that she did not recognize the presence before her.

"Ichigo?" she remembers calling out, tears running down her cheeks as she held out her arms for the sleeping babe. "Why?"

But she knew the answer—or thought she did. Urahara Kisuke was kicked out of the Soul Society for illegal experiments, so of course this is what he had wanted of her precious sword.

"Some tweaking to the spell I think," the man had muttered before he left—no remorse in his voice. "Though I doubt I'll get another opportunity like this for a long time to come. Take care of the zanpakuto, Masaki. Raise him as your child if that's what you wish. I am done with him."

Masaki was in agony for a very long time—deep wounds ripping open whenever she laid eyes on the rosy faced child; racked with guilt. What tortures had her Ichigo been through at the ex-Captain's hands, and now for all his power to be crammed into the small body of a _human infant. _But slowly it relented as she watched her zanpakuto—_their 'son'—_grow into a little boy.

And then, one day, ironically, Masaki died at the hands of a Hollow, rescuing her Ichigo like she had Isshin so many years ago.


	2. Survival

**Summary:** Alternate ending to episode one with an interesting outcome. (Warning in case you don't like it, but from here on out it's gonna be at least a one sided/creepy Aizichi.)

Also, "Tsuyokunaru, Ichigo" = Be strong, One Who Protects.

Or, it's supposed to. Honestly I just used google translate (sorry Ichi but your name literally translates into 'strawberry' your parents hate you) and messed around with a few words until I found one I liked.

**Important:** I know I shouldn't do this but I'm having an existential crisis almost. I'm taking the slash out of the story for now. It might come back in later, but for now—just no. I don't know why, Aizichi is my OTP, but for whatever reason it's bothering me, so I'm taking it out. This story is now GEN until expressed as otherwise. :/ Aizen will be in here in the future though, so I'll keep him tagged as a character. :3

* * *

Ichigo had always known he was different. It was more than his hair color or his name, despite how those two traits made him stick out like a sore thumb. He didn't know how to explain it, not really, he just knew that he was.

There was the obvious seeing spirits thing, which had tipped him off when he was five and his momma told him to leave them alone, that no one but him could see them and that they'd just get him into trouble. Ichigo had listened back then, because Masaki Kurosaki had been the first person to believe that what he saw was real. She didn't make fun of him, or say he was just trying to get attention like the other kids at school. She didn't dismiss what he saw as "imaginary friends" either, like dad had.

Momma had taken him aside and told him that is was okay, and to just ignore them until they went away.

Ichigo could also not recall a single instance of being hurt or sick.

He remembers being eight and stupid and climbing to the top of the monkey bars even though daddy told him not to. He slipped and fell and cried—but he wasn't hurt, just scared. Not a single cut or bruise marred his flesh. He didn't think anything of it then, but as he got older, Ichigo wondered.

Ishin never said anything about it.

Bullies pushed him around, punched him, shoved him to the ground; but Ichigo always came out unscathed, no matter how rough the treatment. He was quick too, when it came to fighting. Mamma had taken him to karate lessons when the bullying had really started getting rough, and they honed his skill and showed him how to stand and throw a punch properly. Ichigo flew up the ranks with prodigal speed, was on his way to black belt until Mamma died.

It had been her idea, for him to go. He couldn't bring himself back there after the monster killed her.

Dad never liked to talk about that either.

Ichigo had always known he was different, but the night a small girl garbed in black and armed with a katana came floating through his bedroom window, he knew everything that made him special was about to send his life careening into the unknown.

* * *

Shinigami, Hollows, Spirits—it was all so farfetched, ridiculous. And yet—and yet it all made so much sense.

A haunting roar suffocated the cool night air as Ichigo stumbled down the stairs after the strange, small woman; hands bound by some invisible force. He stared, terrified, as a monster—a Hollow—held Karin in its meaty claws, giant maw pulled back for a bite.

"Karin, no!" Ichigo screamed, pulling at the spell around his arms with gritted teeth. He would not be useless, he would not let another loved onedie.

"Stay back, you'll only get in the way!"

Ignoring the "Shinigami" with a grunt of exertion and a painful strain on his arms, the spell broke with a flourish of wind and invisible weight shattering. For a moment it was too much and Ichigo dropped to his knees panting. He struggled to pull himself up right.

The Hollow stared at him, having sensed the explosion of reiatsu and unceremoniously dropped Karin to the hard concrete, losing interest in the weaker prey.

"Found you," it hissed and lunged.

The woman grabbed hold of his arm, yanked hard and ran for the open street. For a second Ichigo thought everything would be okay now, that he and his family would be safe. In the same moment, his feet lost the ground as the Hollow swung its claws and swiped at the Shinigami, catching her at the side and sending them both flying.

"Damn it," the small woman cursed, clutching her blood soaked kimono. She pushed herself up to lean against a street lamp looking a lot worse for wear. Her free hand reached for her fallen blade, arm shaking and barely clutching the hilt.

Ichigo struggled to his hands and knees, head whipping from the steadily approaching Hollow to the broken form next to him. In that instant, Ichigo Kurosaki knew he was going to die. His family was going to die, and for the second time in his life, he would be helpless to stop it from happening.

Ichigo's conscious thought detached from his body as his hands reached for the swords hilt, grasping the woman's hand in the process and tugged the sword towards himself by instinct. The blade plunged through his gut and power began to pour into his welcoming body—"What are you doing?!"—turning a small, lit candle into a fierce, hungry flame.

"Tsuyokunaru, Ichigo."

The woman gasped, the Hollow roared; Ichigo sprung up from his knees and swung a black and gold hilted Odashi with everything he had.


End file.
